Modlin Center for the Arts - Midori - 3 Romances for violin and piano, Op. 22

3 Romances for violin and piano, Op. 22

Clara Schumann (1819-1896)

Clara was the daughter of Friedrich Wieck (1785-1873), a piano teacher, and Marianne (1797-1872), a soprano and a student of Wieck. Clara, who was groomed to be a prodigy, first appeared in public when she was nine and held her first complete piano recital at age eleven, followed by an extended tour a year later. She performed extensively and studied piano, voice, violin, instrumentation, score reading, counterpoint, and composition; she also wrote and published several pieces for solo piano.

The composer Robert Schumann, who came to live and study with Clara’s father in 1830, asked for Clara’s hand in marriage in 1837. Wieck refused, but finally, a day before her twenty-first birthday and only after the young couple had filed and won a lawsuit, they were married. Initially, they remained in Leipzig where they both taught in the Conservatory; later, they moved to Dresden in 1844 and to Düsseldorf in 1853. In Düsseldorf, they finally had enough room for Clara to be able to practice and compose comfortably without any disturbance from her, by then, very nervous husband. During that summer, she produced several works, among them Three Romances for violin and piano, Op. 22, which were published in 1855 or 1856 in Leipzig. They were among the last pieces she ever composed.

Clara and Robert both composed Romances, choosing this title for instrumental pieces that are lyrical and tender and sometimes even sentimental in mood. Clara dedicated these particular Romances to the violinist Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), who performed the works for King George V of Hanover. With Joachim, she often performed these Romantic-style brief pieces in contrasting moods.

The first of three, Andante molto, is attractively lyrical; it has contrasting material in its fervent center, and then it returns to the lyrical for the conclusion. This intricately written piece is effective and idiomatic for both instruments with hints of gypsy pathos amid lyrical expressions.

The second piece, Allegretto, Mit zartem Vortrage (with delicate expression), in a minor tonality, with a dark center, has a wistful tone. The cello articulates the syncopated principal theme. A very melancholy atmosphere pervades the movement.

The third and final romance, Leidenschaftlich schnell (passionately quick), is almost as long as the other two together and bears a similarity to the first romance in its passionate feeling. The cello articulates a long lyrical line while the piano has a rippling and rather intricate, almost virtuosic accompaniment. The two instruments join for a sweet, intimate conclusion.